Reply With QuoteYour Grandchildren will love it. Go and have fun and get it bought!
I’m 71 next week and I’m contemplating buying a Hornby Flying Scotsman electric train set. I’ve never quite forgotten the joy of receiving my first model train set almost 65 years ago. I know that I’ll probably set it up and run it for an hour then box it back up. I’m also sure that my wife will contact the pick up team from the Sunnyside Home for Bewildered Gentlefolk and my children and grandchildren will hoot with derision but I’m sorely tempted. Any other older folk around here had a similar experience?
Your Grandchildren will love it. Go and have fun and get it bought!
Go for it! If it brings back some of those early memories it’ll be well worth it. Also the grandchildren will love it so it really is a win/win.
I think it's a brilliant idea and would not hesitate. Lots of fun? Absolutely. Regrets? Never.
You’d be in good company, Rod Stewart, Neil Young….
I quite fancy a Marklin Z.
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We lose a lot of who we are when we leave childhood behind, as an advertisement once said "act your shoe size not your age".
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
I’ve been buying Zguage bits and pieces for a few years, one day I’ll set it up probably, I can’t get anyone else interested though
Originally Posted by BillyCasper
I just took a look at their range, a potentially wallet emptying rabbit hole to disappear down! Looks lovely mind.
F.T.F.A.
Go for it and enjoy!!
This is a site dedicated to the purchase of the unessential!
You might regret it if you do, you will regret it if you don't!
Buy it and enjoy it, flog it here if you don't. It is only minor madness. We have not been camping in 50 years but have just ordered a new van.
Definitely do it. I never , ever tire of watching old Tamiya R/C videos and was thinking about buying a new car just the other night.
I still have my Hornby which must be 30 years old now.
Yeah just do it - yolo so even if it gives you a short spell of happiness then it’s worth it, as already mentioned your grandkids most prob will love it too.
Freaky, I went for a walk with my son last and talked about this very thing. Told him that I wanted to get a train set but that he’d have to move out of the box room as that is where I wanted to set it all up
I started with z gauge around 25 years ago, buying a simple oval track and a 2-4-0 steam shunter from a colleague at the time, and picking up many items second hand on eBay and local modeller events.
The great thing about z is that you can have a complete layout on an old door with a sheet of thin ply on top.
This makes it easy to store, relocate or archive for the next generation.
As an engineer, I find the details and finish of the z engines and rolling stock to be very satisfying.
N gauge is a little more child friendly, but I wouldn't let a child under 10 loose on either without supervision.
One life, live it.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Just be careful if you’re after The Blue Comet!
Go for it. It can be very theraputic just tinkering around with model stuff, be it plastic kits or, in your case, train sets.
I've always fancied a little Z gauge layout. I'm not much of a 'train' person, but just love the beauty and miniature precision such a small scale possesses.
If you've got the time, money and space, go for it
I bought a set cheap a couple of years ago, but haven't set it up yet, got as far as designing a layout. Also have the little santa express set that we have running round the tree at Xmas
You'll need a big base board for it to sit on permanently. Some 9 or 12mm ply with a 2x1 frame underneath to strengthen it. Then a layer of cork over the top (otherwise it will be hellish noisy)
You'll probably want extra track to make the layout more interesting than a basic single oval. Avoid the smaller radius 1 curves, some larger trains struggle to get round them, so stick with the larger radius 2&3. Pre packaged extension packs build into a set double oval layout with some sidings, called the 'trakmat' layout, but this includes some radius 1 stuff, so i designed my own layout based on it, but using only rad2&3. Cost for the extra track and stuff to add to the basic oval came in at about £200, so with that and the cost of a base board, plus lack of space at the moment, the set is still sat in it's box
Do it.
A friend of mine buys Panini football stickers.
When he was younger, he had no money to buy the stickers he wanted.
Now he does.
There are worse habits.
Just buy it and anything else you fancy.
Some things like train sets evoke lovely emotions from childhood that are a pleasure to revisit especially with stuff you couldn't afford at the time.
I do the same with electric guitars and watches.
Things that I used to look at in wonder with my nose pressed against the shop window as a boy, I can now afford.
It's great!
Fill your boots.
Cheers,
Neil.
Many years ago an old guy at work would buy one of the bars of hard toffee every so often. A customer once said to him he remembered when they cost a penny. He said yes, so do I...but I never had a penny....
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Go for it , a few of my mates are heavily into it at a serious level and i give them a hand once in a while running stuff ( between 4 of us we own a scale 1:1 at the Great Central Railway )
2 of the mates run live steam models too
Its a great hobby and probably cheaper than watches anyway. I love the dioramas people are able to create. real works of art.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx3wEi_dA_Q
Isn't that full size?
He did say they were into it at a serious level
Thanks for the replies - I’m encouraged to go ahead and get it. I know I’m being a bit self indulgent but I mean it when I say how I’ve never forgotten the thrill of being handed that big box 64 years ago. I’m not sure I’ll play with it for the hours upon hours I devoted back then - nor spend every bit of pocket money on additional track.
He did say they were into it at a serious level
It’s not self-indulgent, it’s selfless. You’re simply buying it for your grandchildren to use when they visit;)
Exactly, it’s the Patek Philippe of toys for the mature gentleman - you are just looking after it for the next generation.
I do miss my train set sometimes, never quite makes it to the top of the nostalgia list though.
DO IT DO IT DO IT!
My son has been mad about trains since he was a one year old. For Christmas 2020 I built him a Hornby electric (non-DCC) set up and put it in a spare utility room I have. He absolutely loves it!
He's big into Thomas the Tank Engine, so he has a Hornby Thomas, three Bachmann trains (James, Henry and Gordon), and a Hornby BR Class 40 too. He has loads of rolling stock, and when I built the set up I did two rolling loops with a switch point and three sidings. I bought a lot of it as lots from eBay although I bought the track and controller new. It took about twelve weeks to build and I built in a separate 3v system with a separate PSU for illumination. All the buildings are illuminated and there's lampposts around the wooded area (complete with teeny tiny park benches and trees) and around the buildings and bridge too.
HE LOVES IT! I love it too. I thoroughly enjoyed the build, and looking for the little scale bits and pieces was loads of fun.
Here's some pictures, click on them to see 'em big!...
____
Here's some night shots to show off the illumination... :0)
Last edited by Filterlab; 5th August 2021 at 18:35.
That looks awesome, great job. He looks so happy tinkering with it👍DO IT DO IT DO IT!
My son has been mad about trains since he was a one year old. For Christmas 2020 I built him a Hornby electric (non-DCC) set up and put it in a spare utility room I have. He absolutely loves it!
He's big into Thomas the Tank Engine, so he has four Bachmann trains (Thomas, James, Henry and Gordon) and a Hornby BR Class 40 too. He has loads of rolling stock, and when I built the set up I did two rolling loops with a switch point and three sidings. I bought a lot of it as lots from eBay although I bought the track and controller new. It took about twelve weeks to build and I built in a separate 3v system with a separate PSU for illumination. All the buildings are illuminated and there's lampposts around the wooded area (complete with teeny tiny park benches and trees) and around the buildings and bridge too.
HE LOVES IT! I love it too. I thoroughly enjoyed the build, and looking for the little scale bits and pieces was loads of fun.
Here's some pictures, click on them to see 'em big!...
To the OP, go for it. Grandkids will love it and so will you.
Thanks man. He plays with it for hours. Lots and lots of play value with that.
Such joy on his face. So great to see.
Takes your mind off how silly our hobby is of chasing the next nice shiny bauble!
Yup👍
Can't beat it can you, just bought my daughter a new skateboard and she hasn't been off it since it arrived. Taking her to skate parks or just out the front of the house so she can practice is priceless. Total cost of this happiness.........£30😁
(She's 14 so normally locked in her room with her music).
Nice. :0)
Best kind of learning, gets the imagination working and helps develop an understanding of how things work. Fantastic to see so much enjoyment from a toy that requires him to interact and do things with!
T.G.
Just been looking at z gauge, that stuff and layouts in such a small space are amazing. I might have a new hobby (read massive expense..)
The Marklin Z Crocodile is the one that catches my eye.
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My dad has a large model railway set up in a cabin at the end of the garden. His engines are mainly GWR but he kindly lets me run my LNER A4 on it. It's all good fun.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
So refreshing to see a child making things happen in an imaginary world and enjoying it. It's the imagination and practical ability that's created when playing with toys like this that is so valuable. It should happen for more children.DO IT DO IT DO IT!
My son has been mad about trains since he was a one year old. For Christmas 2020 I built him a Hornby electric (non-DCC) set up and put it in a spare utility room I have. He absolutely loves it!
He's big into Thomas the Tank Engine, so he has a Hornby Thomas, three Bachmann trains (James, Henry and Gordon), and a Hornby BR Class 40 too. He has loads of rolling stock, and when I built the set up I did two rolling loops with a switch point and three sidings. I bought a lot of it as lots from eBay although I bought the track and controller new. It took about twelve weeks to build and I built in a separate 3v system with a separate PSU for illumination. All the buildings are illuminated and there's lampposts around the wooded area (complete with teeny tiny park benches and trees) and around the buildings and bridge too.
HE LOVES IT! I love it too. I thoroughly enjoyed the build, and looking for the little scale bits and pieces was loads of fun.
Here's some pictures, click on them to see 'em big!...
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
That is simply wonderful, look on his face and concentration says it all. When he gets a bit older the 1:1 scale stuff is great to play with, I volunteered at The Bluebell in Sussex some years ago and even got to be a fireman! great times. Cheers, John B4
Do it. My father was big into steam trains, worked his backside off to build up his businesses and promised himself that at 64 he would pack it all in, build a model steam railway and spend his latter years tinkering away in pure bliss. He died of colon cancer aged 62. So if you want to do it, do it as who knows what tomorrow brings.
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Yes - I’m doing it. Those pics of that young lad enjoying his set really brought it back for me. I’m having it delivered to my son’s house and my grandson has volunteered to assemble it and show me how it works :). Means I’ve got to wait a couple of days after my birthday but it’ll be fun to have father, son and grandson arguing for the controls. Many thanks for all of the replies and especially Filterlab’s terrific post.
Last edited by Rinaldo1711; 6th August 2021 at 22:13.
Excellent stuff! Jude (my boy) gives you a thumbs up. :0)
Amazing news! Enjoy!
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yes lol
yes lol
a couple of us own this and we drive it quite a lot
https://www.gcrailway.co.uk/special-...4-running-day/
^Excellent stuff.
I had Scalextric as a boy rather than a train set but even I can see the attraction with something this size.
Was a Scalextric kid too, can’t wait for one of my friends kids to get bought the newer digital ones, as really want to play.
The train set in that video is mind blowing
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